Kaze wa Mirai ni Fuku
by Rei Helen
Summary: "The Wind Blows Toward the Future" . . . characters in character, and a plotline that won't make you barf. NO annoying Japanese thrown in (save the title), and NO mysterious resurrections.
1. The Growing World

Author's note: It's just a story. Read it. I hope you like it! 

Chapter One: The Growing World

__

*

Near the Strife-Stampede family enclave

220 years after the Project Seeds landing

"Whatcha doin, Uncle Knives?"

"Watering my garden."

"It sure is pretty."

"Heh. You must be the fifth generation of Vash-spawn. Why did you come here? Vash send you to meet me?"

"Um...my name is Val. Nice to meet you."

"You can go, now. I don't like company."

"Does it make you happy?"

"What the fu--why do you care, little girl? Go back home, get back to training to be a plant technician like the rest of your kin."

"I'm not going to be a technician."

"Oh, you're not?"

"No. When I grow up, I'm gonna be just like Uncle Vash!"

*

June City

16 Years Later

"Excuse me. I'm Marlene Thompson, from the ST Division of Bernadelli Insurance, and this is my partner—"

"Brian Darrow, pleased to meet you." The young man extended a hand, but the client, a scientist named Dr. Albert Fulton, didn't shake it. Brian shrugged.

"Yes," Marlene continued. "We're here to assess the damage."

"You don't understand," moaned the scientist. He was probably approaching sixty, more than half of his hair gone to gray and wrinkles creeping around his eyes and mouth. "What I've lost is priceless—all my years of research, irretrievably lost. No insurance could repay it...but you damn well better try."

Marlene didn't bat an eye. "Yes, sir, we'll do what we can. Do you mind if we have a look around?"

"What's to see?" The scientist waved his hand, indicating the burnt-out hull of a building behind him. "It's all gone—everything—my whole life is—"

"You can explain to Brian. I'll go take a look."

"Marlene, it could be dangerous—"

"Talk to him. I'll be back in a few minutes." Marlene hiked off into the wreckage.

Brian sighed. "So...uh...what happened?"

"I had just set up a few experiments—very fragile, very difficult experiments, the data from which is now lost, not to mention the capability to perform them—and was heading home for the night, when I entered my car and began to drive away. And then, as I did, the whole building exploded into flames!" Dr. Fulton exploded into pathetic sobbing, and Brian offered him a tissue.

"It's not possible that one of your experiments triggered the explosion?" Brian said, after the scientist had blown his nose.

"You insult me," whined the victim. "None of my experiments were of an explosive or combustible nature. It's quite impossible for them to have triggered a spark, let alone a catastrophe on this scale. It was the Twilight, I'm sure of it."

"The Twilight?" repeated Brian, taking notes. "Like...same as the crash twenty-five years ago?"

"I'm sure of it," the scientist replied. "And Bernadelli suspects it, too, or they wouldn't have sent the ST division."

"Sir, the ST division deals with all unexplained disasters. And there hasn't been a confirmed incident of action on the part of the Twilight in twenty-five years."

"I came on one of those ships," the doctor insisted. "The Twilight holds a grudge against all of us—she wants us all dead! There hasn't been anyone with so much destructive power since Vash the Stampede himself!"

"Whoa, hold on a second! As a member of the ST division, I've made quite a study of the Stampede incidents of a century past. After all, the division is named for our founders, Meryl Strife and Milly Thompson, who followed the Stampede for several years. Marlene, in fact, is actually the great-great-niece of—"

"I want to talk to your partner," the scientist insisted, not listening to Brian's ramblings.

"Wait! Mister..." Brian followed the scientist into the wreckage, towards where Marlene was kneeling and taking notes.

"Dr. Fulton, what did you store in the room at the northeast corner of the second floor?" Marlene asked as the two came into hearing range.

"What?" The scientist thought about it. "As I recall, the room was empty. I—I sometimes used it to sleep in, when I was too tired to drive home from the laboratory. Why do you ask?"

"That's where the explosion seems to have originated. It's a good thing you weren't sleeping there on Wednesday night." Marlene stood, dusting off the legs of her pants. The scientist laughed nervously.

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" he said.

"You didn't have any assistants? Anyone else who witnessed the explosion?"

"No...there's no one else."

"All right, I think I've seen all we need here. I have some forms that you need to fill out, and we'll return tomorrow morning to pick them up," Marlene said, smooth and businesslike as always.

"You do realize that I've been left with nothing...nothing whatsoever. I have to start over again...my whole life's work is gone..."

"Yes, that will be taken into account when your case is processed." Marlene led them back to her car, where she shuffled through a briefcase to pull out a folder full of papers. She handed the folder to Dr. Fulton. "Please fill these out as completely as you can. If you have any questions, Brian and I are staying at the Orange Hotel downtown." She started the car and drove away,

"There's something fishy about this," Marlene said.

"I think so too," Brian added eagerly from beneath the pile of papers on his side of the car. "That guy was weird."

"I don't think he's telling the whole truth," Marlene continued. "I mean, I don't think he'd do it himself, to collect on the insurance...he is upset about losing all his work. He seems like the type who might try to cover up his own accident, though, by blaming it on a mysterious force that hasn't been seen nor heard from in twenty years. He might as well say Vash the Stampede did it."

"You can't just rule her out, though," Brian said. "I think we need to find out exactly what it is that scientist-dude was studying, and what sort of experiments he was doing—"

"Brian, no," Marlene replied. "We both know he's probably lying, but there's nothing we can do. The guy did lose his life's work, after all, so we can have a little pity. Hopefully we can get the paperwork done and be on a ship headed home by the day after tomorrow."

"You're not even curious? This could be big, Marlene...you could follow in the footsteps of your great-aunt Milly and—"

"Are you kidding?" Marlene wished that her partner would keep his big mouth shut. "I don't intend to follow some nutcase around the world and back unless Bernadelli is paying me damn well for it. And until they do, we're going to do our jobs as quickly and neatly as possible and then go home. All this traveling really doesn't agree with me."

"You have no sense of adventure," Brian pouted.

"You have no sense whatsoever," Marlene replied. She put the car in park, and Brian looked up to realize they had already arrived at the hotel. His partner shot a look at him. "And if you don't come back with me, that leaves me to explain it to our boss."

"Okay, okay, jeez," Brian sighed. "No wonder you're not married."

"What?"

"Um...nothing."

Marlene rolled her eyes. "As if all I should care about is getting married."

"It's better than having the only thing you care about be a paycheck!" Brian retorted. He slammed the car door and stormed towards the hotel.

Marlene didn't bother arguing with him any more. _It's not true. I like what I do, and I'm good at it, and being able to afford food and a place to live doesn't hurt._

"Stupid kid," she sighed, following him at a distance to the hotel.

*

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!" Brian practically fell into Marlene's room.

"What's your problem?"

"He's here," Brian gasped. "He's here!"

"Get a hold of yourself. What are you talking about?"

"Vash the Stampede! I swear, I saw him, here, in this hotel!"

"Oh, God." She rubbed her forehead. "This is going to be good."

"I'm serious. The blond, spiky hair, the mole next to his eye...he's here. I saw the pictures—he's exactly the same!"

"Brian, please don't make fun of me any more. I'm tired. I've been typing all evening."

"Geez, I'm sorry," Brian replied. "All right, I'll leave you alone. Good night."

"Good night." Marlene waited until Brian shut the door and counted to twenty, enough time to ensure that he had gone back to his own room for the night. Then she slipped her feet into her shoes and headed out into the hallway.

She walked slowly, trying to act normal and at the same time peeking into doors left partially open. Marlene stepped down the stairs to the hotel lobby, where a single receptionist sat at the desk, a young girl who looked rather dreamy.

__

Well, it's certainly not Brian who's making her look like that. Well, if Vash is here, he's probably out drinking. There's a bar across the street, if I remember right...

Marlene headed out the door.

"Been a while, Emily," a voice said. Marlene looked up in shock.

"How do you know—" she began. "Oh..."

"You sure have grown up pretty." Vash smiled.

"And you haven't changed at all," Marlene replied. "I assume you're in town for the same reason I am?"

"I am?" Vash looked confused. "Are you old enough to drink, Emily?"

"Actually, I am," Marlene replied, annoyed. "And I go by Marlene. There's already both an Emily and a Milly in my generation. And a Meryl, and a Nicholas. You can probably see how things could get confusing."

"I suppose so, Marlene. Want to go get a drink with me, then? It's not often that I run into a pretty girl like you—"

"You can't fool me, Vash, I know that you're too old for me—" Marlene cut off. "But I would like to talk to you, and you're not allowed to pretend you don't know what I'm talking about."

Vash sniffled. "What I have to do to get a date these days...fine, it's a deal."

__

I guess his wife has been dead for almost thirty years, that's long enough to stop mourning...still, it's weird to think that his wife died of old age, but Vash still looks like a young man. I wonder if he'll ever grow old, or if he's immortal. Or does he even know the answer to that?

Vash ordered a beer, and Marlene asked for a strawberry milkshake. "So, what's been going on at old Bernadelli lately?" Vash asked her, but Marlene wasn't going to let him beat around the bush.

"There was a Plant on that ship, wasn't there," she said. "The one that crashed, twenty-five years ago."

Vash sighed and stared into his cup. "According to the ship's records, there were three," he said. "Two of them most likely didn't survive the trip, and the third...was assumed killed in the explosion."

"But this person's probably not dead, right?" Marlene said, after taking a sip from her straw.

"I don't know."

"Don't you people have a sense for that sort of thing?"

"Not really," Vash replied. "I might be able to tell, if I could see this person—but I haven't."

"Would that scientist know anything about it?" Marlene asked.

"I came here, right after the crash, and spoke with Dr. Fulton then. He said that there had been a plant on the ship, but she had disappeared...he blamed her for the crash. He called her the Twilight."

"The same Twilight he's blaming for destroying his laboratory now. So now there's a hypothetical Twilight running about? Another plant? And we don't know if this person is like you, or like your brother..."

Vash shook his head. "Some people told me that on Earth, they used us...the Plants...as weapons. They left the planet to escape the constant warfare...and, knowing the destructive power of a Plant..." He sighed. "I don't know too much. No one likes to talk much about Earth."

"They all ran away from it," Marlene said. "I know a little bit, too. My uncle married one of the settlers...she didn't want to talk about it, either." _Vash must remember when the first ships landed on this planet...like stones from the sky...brought here not by choice, but by his brother. Knives...I wonder whatever happened to him._

The new settlers followed the trail left by the Project SeeDs, 236 years ago. A new crop for our sandy garden, but again they landed in tragedy. The ships of settlers in cryosleep survived, but the one flagship crashed, the ship carrying most of the scientists...and the Plant. Marlene frowned. She didn't want to get deeply involved in this, but she was too curious now to just let it sit. "Vash—"

The spiky-blond man smiled at her, looking nothing like a legendary gunman. "I had forgotten how lonely traveling could be. Would a beautiful girl like you be in need of a bodyguard?"

Marlene groaned and stirred the remains of her milkshake with her straw. "Sorry, I have nothing against a little age gap, but I draw the line at a century. You've got great-grandchildren who are older than I am. Besides, I've already got a partner."

"Oh? A new generation of insurance girls, huh? Is she cute?"

Marlene giggled. "_He_'s adorable," she said. "Don't look so sad. I bet he'd look great in a skirt."

"I'll take your word for it," Vash replied.

"Brian's young and enthusiastic. An idol-worshipper. I'm sure he's going to want to get messed up in this, too. Maybe I should ask him to go with you. He'd love every second of it."

"Really, I'm not interested in men," Vash said, holding up his hands defensively.

"I know that," Marlene replied. "You're a horribly dirty old man, but a flamboyantly straight one."

"Flamboyantly? What's that supposed to mean?" Vash thought for a moment. "Dirty? _Old_?!"

"You can't fight that one," Marlene replied. "Maybe it's time you retire. I mean, you've already got a successor."

Vash blinked at her. "I do?"

"Don't you? Isn't that your great-granddaughter I hear about, traveling around, carrying a giant cross? They call her Val the Stampede.


	2. Gung-Ho Wannabes

Chapter Two: Gung-Ho Wannabes   


_The Sinking Sun Tavern, 200 iles from June_

"All right, I'll have that for you right away, sir!" The brunette barmaid grinned and sauntered back to fetch another beer for her customer. 

"Pretty one, isn't she?" 

"Why don't you ask her for her number?" 

"No way, I'm too embarrassed…" 

It was Saturday afternoon, and the tavern was typically busy. A few waitresses in short, low-cut dresses brought beer and food out to their customers, who played card games or just talked amongst themselves. 

The door swung open, and bright sunlight streamed in behind the latest arrival, leaving her silhouetted against the light. She was tall, and carried a large cross wrapped in cloth on her back. 

"Here you go," the waitress was saying, but she nearly dropped the mugs of beer she was carrying when she looked at the newcomer. 

The blond woman with the cross shrugged off the attention and took a seat at a vacant table. The brunette waitress dropped the beers on the table and rushed to serve her. 

"May I help you?" she said, grinning and looking rather excited. The guest shook her head and pushed her purple-tinted sunglasses up her nose. 

"I'll have a glass of red wine," she began, as several shadows loomed up behind the waitress. 

"You can't sit there," a man told her. 

The woman with the cross looked up at him over the rims of her glasses. "Oh? And why might that be?" 

"Because that table belongs to Oliver the Scorpion." 

"Oliver the Scorpion, huh?" 

The man leaned down to grab the throat of her jacket. "He's the leader of the Gung-Ho Guns," he said. "If you don't want trouble around here, stranger, you won't mess with him!" 

"Gung-Ho Guns, huh?" The woman had a bit of a smirk on her face. 

"I'm only going to give you one warning! If you think that you can just waltz in here and act like you own the town, just because you've got that fancy thing with you…" 

"That has to be the coolest thing I've ever seen!" the waitress gushed, cutting into the man's threat. "Can I touch it?" 

The stranger was rather surprised by this request. "I guess, so long as you're— careful—" She winced as the cross tipped over as a result of the waitress's poking, and clattered to the floor with a sound that rattled everyone in the tavern. The stranger rolled her eyes and got up to retrieve her cross. 

"Oh, I'm really really sorry! Is it okay?" 

"It's fine…" the stranger replied. "I suppose I've got to go find a better table. About my wine…" 

"Yes ma'am, right away, ma'am!" The waitress was nodding and following the stranger to her new seat. "Where did you get such an awesome cross?" 

The stranger propped the cross against her chair and sat down. "I guess you could say it's a family heirloom. Now, my drink—" 

"Why's it all wrapped up like that? What's in there?" 

"Obviously, it's a big, heavy cross. I've got it wrapped up to keep it from getting dirty. What is this, twenty questions? I thought I ordered a drink!" 

"I—I'm sorry, ma'am! It's just that your cross looks so cool—heck, you look so cool—" 

"I appreciate it, really, but I'm also damn thirsty!" 

"Yes, ma'am, I'm sorry, ma'am, right away, ma'am!" The waitress finally scurried off, and the stranger breathed a sigh of relief. She could still feel the eyes of the group of men who had threatened her…well, she'd known before she came here that she was going to find trouble in this town. 

"So…the Gung-Ho Guns…" she muttered. 

"I brought it back as quickly as I could, ma'am!" The waitress was back all too soon with a glass of red wine, which she placed in front of the stranger. 

"Thanks." 

"You're welcome." The waitress didn't move; she just stood there, grinning. 

"I said, thanks," the stranger repeated. 

"And I said, 'you're welcome!'" 

The stranger groaned. "Well, if you're going to be hanging around here, you could at least make yourself useful. What do you know about the Gung-Ho Guns?" 

Those three words wiped the grin off the waitress's face. "They think they can scare people by using the name from that gang, a hundred years ago," she said. "Stupid, causing trouble in these peaceful times…" 

"If these times are so peaceful, why do you have a gun under your skirt?" the stranger replied dryly. 

"Oh, you noticed?" giggled the waitress. "Really, things can get rough in here, so try not to get in the way." 

The guest sipped her wine. "I'll keep that in mind." 

A man stormed through the front door. 

"Looks like it's time for things to get rough," the waitress giggled. The customer rolled her eyes, but at least the waitress walked away. 

The crowd parted, and the man walked to the seat where she had originally sat down. _Time for things to get rough, huh? That should be my line._ She wrapped her hand around one of the straps on the cross, ready to pull it off when the time was right. When his buddies weren't all so close around him… 

"Give me a bottle of beer," the man sneered at the waitress who had been bothering her a moment ago. She winked and reached down to her leg. The guest with a cross had a very bad feeling about this… 

"Mr. Oliver the Scorpion, your reign of terror in this down is over!" The waitress pulled her gun, pointed it at the man, and grinned. 

Men from behind her seized the waitress's arms, and she shrieked and kicked. One of them seized the gun from her hand and tossed it aside, and the leader—the so-called Oliver the Scorpion—drew a gun and held it to her head. The other guests panicked, but the waitress just shouted insults as she tried to fight herself free. 

"Dammit…everyone, get out of here!" the guest shouted. _Dammit…I didn't want it to go like this! That idiot!_ She pulled the strap, and the wrapping of fabric fell away from her cross. 

"Wow, that's awesome!" the waitress said, momentarily distracted from the fact that she was being held defenseless and had a gun against her head. 

"What are you doing?" the woman with the cross demanded. 

"Yess…you were saying something interesting," Oliver said. "But what's ending now is your life, missy." 

"No it's not," the waitress replied, and she bit hard into the arm of one of the men who was holding her. He shouted in pain and pulled his arm back. She kicked back at the other man, the spike of her heel connecting with his groin, and he too pulled away. Oliver fired a shot, but missed. "Now where did my gun go?" she asked. 

"Over there," the other woman replied, pointing. "Hey, over here!" she called to the Gung-ho Guns crowded around the waitress. "You're quite a pathetic imitation of the original, you know," she said. 

"What the hell is that?" one of them asked, pointing to her weapon. 

"A family heirloom," the woman replied, and she pulled two small guns from its crossbars. "Funny thing is, I came here to take care of the Gung-ho Guns myself." 

"Bitch! Kill them both!" Oliver shouted. 

"Didn't anyone ever teach you that killing was wrong?" The woman continued speaking, and the waitress fought off a couple more of the Gung-ho Guns who tried to prevent her from retrieving her pistol. _There's still too many of them…come on, missy, I hate to admit it, but you can be of use here…_

"Hahahaha!" The waitress's voice rose from the darkness. She hopped up, pistol in hand, from a pile of more-or-less unconscious thugs. "Victory is mine! Mr. Scorpion, you're going down!" 

"What the hell are you waiting for?!" Oliver demanded, and the other Gung-ho Guns opened fire. The two women ducked behind a table. 

"Looks like I underestimated you," the blond said. "So, what's your name, anyway?" 

"Spike," the waitress replied with a grin. The gunfire continued. 

"…Spike?" 

"Mm-hm!" 

"I'm Val," the blond replied, firing a shot over the edge of the table. Someone screamed in pain. 

"I thought you said it was wrong to kill," Spike said. 

"I didn't kill anyone. I got his shoulder." 

"What?!" 

"When I give the signal, you take that side, got it?" 

"Wha…" Spike drifted off, then nodded. "Got it!" 

She counted down on her fingers. "Three, two, one, go!" The two women rolled out opposite sides of the table, shooting. Val aimed and fired methodically, going for non-vital organs. Spike fired twice and then reverted to hand fighting; the men were too close, and she could kick them better than she could shoot them. 

"Nice underpants," one of the men commented, as she kicked someone else in the face. Spike paused for a moment and turned pink. 

"Stupid stupid stupid!" she screamed, pummeling him down. "How dare you! You pervert!" 

"It's your fault for dressing that way," Val said. "We're down to one, you know." 

Spike looked up from her pummeling. "Oh." 

Oliver the Scorpion was cowering in a corner. "Who…who are you people?!" 

"You take such pride in such a dirty name, but those who originally held it would not hold you fit to shine their shoes," Val said. "Idiots like you annoy me. Consider yourself lucky that I keep my promises. Spike, call the police station and have them come clean this up." 

Val picked up her cross and hefted it over her shoulder. She turned to leave. 

"Val, wait!" Spike took off after her. "Are you just going to walk away from this? After all you did?" 

"That was the plan," Val replied. 

"Oh, that is so awesome! I wanna go with you!" 

Val blinked. "You want to come with me?" 

"Yeah! I mean…we seemed like a pretty good team back there, don't you think?" Spike said. Val winced. "If you say no, I'm going to follow you anyway." 

"I kinda guessed," Val replied. "Come on, then." 

"So, where are we going, Val?" 

"I'm on my way to June…I told someone I'd meet him there. But if you don't want to come, I can—" 

"Oh, no, that sounds great! Look out, June, Val and Spike are on their way!" 

_God…what did I ever do to deserve this?_

"Wahooo! We sure are awesome, aren't we, Val?" 


	3. Twilight Hunting

Chapter Three: Twilight Hunting 

Marlene fell into her bed as the sun was rising. Who knew catching up could be so exhausting? There has to be a better time for things like this. Her head hit the pillow, and for a few moments she contemplated the furniture of her hotel room. It began to get fuzzy, and her eyes closed at last. 

The door flew open. Marlene shook, and would have cursed if she weren't too exhausted to do so. 

"I've got to find out more about what happened!" Brian shouted. "Marlene, what's your problem?" 

"Do what you want," Marlene muttered into her pillow. 

"Are you--do you have a hangover?" 

"Not exactly," his partner replied. "Out all night. Want to sleep." 

Brian almost fell over, and had to catch himself in the doorway. "Were you out with a man?" 

"Go find out the truth or whatever," she told him. "That's an order from your superior." 

"You were with a guy!" Brian started laughing. Marlene pushed herself out of bed and stalked forward in her pajamas. Brian looked up to find her glaring at him. 

"None. Of. Your. Business," she said, slapped him back into the hallway, and slammed the door. 

"Wonder what's bugging her," Brian said, shoving his hands in his pockets and heading out for the library. 

* 

"It's friggin' deserted," Brian murmured as he entered the library. The only people there were a librarian listening to a radio behind her desk and a young woman sprawled on a couch reading a book. 

Brian walked up to the desk. "Excuse me," he said, and the librarian pushed her headphones down to her shoulders. She gave him an annoyed look. 

"May I help you?" She sounded insincere. Brian could hear her music from the other side of the desk. 

"I'm looking for books about the second landing," Brian began. 

"History is in the second aisle from the windows back there," the librarian replied before he could say another word. 

"Um...thanks," Brian replied, giving her a look over his shoulder before heading back to the aisle she indicated. She pushed her headphones back over her ears and completely ignored him. 

The books on the shelves seemed to be in no order whatsoever. He gave up on trying to find any kind of sense to their arrangement and started working his way across from the top left. 

A few minutes later, the girl who had been sitting on the couch entered the aisle. She ran her finger quickly along the books on the opposite side of the aisle, occasionally selecting one and adding it to the stock she held against her chest. She seemed oblivious to Brian's observation of her actions. 

Finally, she presented him with her collection. 

"The selection here's not so good, so I'm giving you the best ones I could find." She put the books into his hands. "Not great, but you're not going to find much in a town like this." 

"The...selection?" Brian murmured. He'd never been in a library any bigger than this one. 

"Here, let me show you." The woman took one of the books back from the stack she'd given him and flipped through it. She handed it back to him, open to a page-sized photograph of a gigantic library. The ceilings were easily three times as high as those in this library, and there were shelves that reached to the tops of the walls, loaded with books. Brian read the caption aloud. 

"The Library of Congress, two weeks before its destruction in the fourth world war." He looked up at the woman. "This was on...Earth, right?" 

Her hair was cut unevenly, and had a tendency to fall into one of her eyes. Red highlights caught the light, stark against her black hair. "Yeah," she said, unbothered by his stare. "That book's mostly about Earth, but the last couple chapters are about the second landing." 

Brian closed the book. "You seem to know a lot about this stuff." 

She just shrugged. "Well, I was born there." 

"You were? Really? Then, you came over with the fleet, right? Oh...but you must've been too young to remember." She didn't even look twenty-five, but she would have to have been at least that old to have come on the ships from Earth. "Are your parents in town? Can I talk to them?" 

"My parents are dead," the girl said. 

"Oh." Brian winced. "I'm sorry." 

"Don't worry about it," she said. "Even if they were around, no one who came from Earth likes to talk about it. But if you want to understand what went on at the Second Landing, you have to understand Earth. That's my theory, anyway." 

"Do you know about it?" Brian asked hungrily. The woman shrugged. 

"As much as anyone," she said. "Enough to know that there are many rumors. Some say that only Vash the Stampede could have brought about such a catastrophe." 

"Vash wouldn't do that!" Brian shouted, then winced, realizing that he wasn't supposed to raise his voice in a library. "The rumors about Vash are wrong," he said quietly. "People...died. Vash wouldn't kill innocent people like that." 

"If he were indeed anything more than a legend," the woman replied. 

"He was real," Brian said. "I work for the Bernadelli ST division. It's named for my famous forerunners, Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson. My partner, in fact, happens to be--" 

"Vash probably wasn't involved," the woman interrupted. "The incident that brought down the flagship must have taken place on that ship." 

"Hey--if you've made, like, a study of this, do you know about the Twilight?" Brian asked her eagerly. 

"You're far too eager to create monsters out of nothing," she said. "The people raised on this planet have far too much faith in the infallibility of the 'lost technology.' Accidents happen. Even spaceships malfunction. It was a risk everyone was willing to take to escape Earth." 

"I...never introduced myself," said Brian. "My name is Brian Darrow." He reached out a hand to shake hers, and all the books tumbled to the floor. 

"I'm Sandhya," she replied, helping him to pick up the books, her lips curling into a smile. "Why do you care so much about the landing, anyway?" 

"Because it's weird," Brian replied. "And...well, everyone came from Earth originally, right?" 

"But we had reason to leave it behind." 

"That doesn't mean I just want to forget about it," Brian said. 

"That's smart of you. People are too eager to forget their mistakes, rather than remember and learn from them." 

"You think so?" Brian said. 

"No one likes to admit their own foolishness. We'd rather pretend nothing happened." 

"Boy, I know what you mean...I work in insurance. People make up all sorts of stories to make it sound like things weren't their fault. Like this Dr. Fulton guy..." 

"I need to get going," Sandhya interrupted. 

"Wait! I...I would really like to talk to you. You seem to know more about this than anyone else..." 

"Not right now. Some other time, perhaps?" 

"Um...are you doing anything later tonight?" Sandhya shook her head. "Do you want to, like, go to dinner with me?" Brian asked nervously. "I mean, I can pay and everything, I'm not just going to sap your knowledge for nothing..." 

"Hey, if you're paying, it sounds good to me," she replied. "Where and when?" 

"How about...the Dragon Jade Flower Drum on Fourth Street? At, like 6:30?" 

"That will be fine." 

Brian knew that he must be grinning like a fool, but Sandhya either didn't notice or didn't care. She waved good-bye to him and left. 

* 

Val and Spike entered a different hotel, still several hundred iles from June City. "Room for one, please," Val told the hotel receptionist. 

"That'll be forty double dollars," the lady behind the desk replied, and Val shelled out the money. "Thank you." The receptionist handed Val a key. "Room 231, near the west staircase on the second floor." 

"Thanks," Val replied. She looked back and saw Spike following her. 

"I'm with her," Spike told the receptionist cheerfully, and the two women received a skeptical look. 

"What are you doing?" Val demanded of her partner. 

"I don't have enough money to get a room of my own," Spike explained. 

"That's not my problem." 

"I won't bother you, I promise! I'll sleep on the floor, and I won't go through your stuff, and I'll pay you back, I promise, and I—" 

Val groaned. "If you really don't want to bother me, you would shut your mouth!" 

"Okay, okay, I can shut up," Spike said. Val rolled her eyes, and Spike kept her mouth clamped conspicuously shut. 

The silence was eerie. Spike would almost forget, and open her mouth, then remember she was busy shutting up and clamp her lips back together. Val unwrapped the cross and polished it, and Spike sat on a chair, swinging her legs and staring out the window. She made an odd face and reached for the pad of paper, found a pen, and pulled the cap off with her teeth. She started scribbling, and then showed the paper to Val. 

"Can I hum?" it said. 

"I don't care if you talk, Spike," Val groaned, "I just wish that you could keep it to a minimum." 

"I'm sorry that I bother you," Spike replied, sounding rather sincere. 

"Don't worry about it…" 

"Really?" Spike brightened. 

"It's an expression," Val explained, twitching. 

* 

"Hey Marlene..." 

"Hey what?" 

When Brian returned to the hotel, he found his partner typing away at her typewriter. She didn't even look up from her work to reply. 

"Guess who's got a date tonight?" 

"I haven't a clue. Certainly not my partner." 

"Ha-ha! I met a girl at the library. She knows a lot about the second landing and Earth and stuff and she's going to meet me at the Dragon Jade Flower Drum tonight." 

"So it's a business dinner." 

Brian pouted. "No, it's a date cleverly disguised as a business dinner," he corrected her. "You have to see her, Marlene. She's really pretty." 

"I'll take your word for it," Marlene replied, still typing away. "It's really a shame, though..." 

"What? What's a shame?" 

"I already made us plans for dinner tonight. But if you're not going to be able to join us, that's a shame." 

"Sorry, Marlene, but given a choice between you and this girl--wait a second, what do you mean, 'us'?" 

"Oh, nothing. I can see that you have more important plans." 

"Marlee-ene!" Brian stamped his foot. "I hate it when you do this to me!" 

"And I hate it when you whine. Fine, then. We were supposed to have dinner with Vash the Stampede, but since you're busy--" 

"Wha-a-at?" Brian gasped, suddenly hovering over her. "You're kidding, right? You've got to be kidding." 

Marlene shook her head. "No kidding. My family's kept in contact with him over the years, but I hadn't seen him since I was a little kid. I was surprised he recognized me when we ran into each other yesterday." 

"You-met-Vash-the-Stampede?!" Brian could feel his brain going into overload. "You-actually-know-him?! Why didn't you tell me?!?!" 

"Probably because I knew your reaction would be something like this," Marlene groaned. 

"Like what? Are you saying I'm overreacting? I'm not overreacting! This is Vash the Stampede we're talking about." 

"If you're going to act like this, it's better if you don't come. You'd be an embarassment to all of us." 

"No, I can be calm," Brian plopped down onto the bed and concentrated on taking slow, deep breaths. "I'm calm. I'm calm. I'm--oh my god, I get to have dinner with Vash the Stampede!" 

"That's funny. I thought you were going on a date?" Marlene noted. 

Brian finally sobered. "Oh, man, you're right! I have to choose...Vash or Sandhya? Vash or Sandhya? Marlene, how can I choose?" 

His partner rolled her eyes. "I suppose, since you say this date of yours is an authority on the second landing, we could always invite Vash along to that Jade Drum Flower May Dragon Phoenix Lily, or whatever it's called." 

"Dragon Jade Flower Drum," Brian corrected her, brightening a bit. 

"It won't be a romantic dinner for two, but at least no one will get stood up. Does that work for you?" 

"Oh yeah!" Brian looked so sparkly and happy that Marlene couldn't help but catch a bit of it and smile. "Marlene, you're the best partner ever and I love you!" He hugged her tightly, almost knocking over her chair. 

"Take it easy, kid," Marlene told him. "Dinner's still hours away, and in the meantime a pile of paperwork is calling our names. I've got about half the Fulton case done, but that pile there still needs to be filed away." 

For once, Brian didn't even whine. "Anything for you, ma'am," he said. "I owe you so much!" 

"I know," his partner replied. "Don't think I'll let you forget it." 


	4. Now and Then

Chapter 4: Now and Then

Perhaps it was seeing Marlene, who reminded him so much of Milly, that triggered it, but Vash found himself facing one of his infrequent bouts with depression. He felt horribly, painfully alone, and he missed his friends of bygone days terribly.

Before meeting Milly, Wolfwood, and Meryl, Vash had tried never to get too close to anyone—they would only grow old and die before his eyes, and he didn't want to face the pain. The friendship and love he'd felt in those days, though, had made it worth the pain of living without them—it hurt sometimes, but the memories were beautiful.

He remembered getting married to Meryl after Milly had practically forced them into it. He was happy—he felt as if he had lived in a daze of happiness after that. They began to build their house, and two years later, Meryl gave birth to their first child, Daniel Nicholas. He remembered not knowing how to deal with a pregnant woman, his nervousness when she went into labor—until that time, Vash had no idea what happened during childbirth, but he soon found out—his joy and pride when he held his son for the first time.

When the baby was a week old, Vash took him to visit Knives, still recovering from injuries to mind and body. He thought for a moment that his brother looked upon his child with some sort of tenderness; he hadn't asked to hold the baby, but he made no disgusted remarks, either.

As Daniel grew, so did the house and garden. Knives concentrated on coaxing life out of the sand; it was something that brought him joy, and didn't hurt anyone else, so Vash had tried to help him. Knives, however, preferred to be alone with his thoughts, and although they lived in the same house, many days would pass when their paths did not cross.

Milly was a frequent visitor to their estate, but she didn't move in until after the birth of Vash and Meryl's second child, Mina Ann. Although Daniel was named after the man she loved, it was Mina who became Aunt Milly's darling. Both children had grown faster than normal—by the age of twelve, they were adults. No one knew what half-Plant children would be like, but Mina and Daniel were raised with so much love they never felt like outcasts.

Even when Meryl was growing old, Vash had been happy in her company. Their family grew—they had grandchildren, great-grandchildren. When the first great-great-grandchild was born, Meryl's hair was thin and white, and her hands too weak to hold the baby. She passed away in Vash's arms, telling him that it was all right, everything was all right, she was happy. She was eighty-nine years old. Milly died four years later, the same year Val was born.

Val had always been his little "Val the Stampede," and while most of the Stryfe-Stampede children played at being "Uncle Vash," Val had taken it seriously--especially after tragedy claimed her parents. She was the only one of the children that he would trust with the cross that had belonged to his best friend of a bygone era, and though he worried about her, he knew she was able to take care of herself.

*

Spike whistled to herself as she worked, chopping up vegetables. Val tried to ignore her, but she could have shown a little repentance. After all, Spike was the reason they were currently out of funds--and Val comforted herself by fantasizing about extracting her revenge, penny by penny. She was washing dishes, a chore she'd hated all her life, but especially hated now. The kitchen was intolerably hot, and for the millionth time she regretted bringing Spike along on this trip. At this rate, it would be years before they made it to June.

Spike seemed blissfully aware of Val's frustration. She pulled a tray out of the oven and walked out into the restaurant to serve it. The owner of the restaurant came into the kitchen just as Spike left it.

"Your friend is quite the charmer--I've never seen the dining room so full. I wish I could hire her full time!"

"Would you, please?" Val groaned, from her sudsy corner. Spike was cut out for this sort of work--cooking, waitressing. Fighting crime was just a game to her, but here she seemed in her element. Val, on the other hand would have been much happier serving as a bouncer, but the owner had been shocked by the idea. This was a "family establishment," he'd said, but if they had any trouble, they'd know whom to come to.

Val looked down at her pruned fingers and plunged her hands back into the suds. She was supposed to be helping solve the mysterious explosion in June, but instead she was tending to an ever-mounting pile of dishes. She couldn't keep up with all the dirty tableware that needed her attention, so the plates and glasses sat in growing mounds that loomed over her.

Spike returned to the kitchen, humming cheerfully. Val had to summon every molecule of maturity in her body to keep herself from sticking out a foot to trip the too-happy girl.

"Guess what, Vally?" Spike said, and didn't wait for a reply. "I just met a really nice guy who's going to drive us to June!"

Most guys were "really nice" to Spike--the way she dressed ensured _that_. Val had to admit, though, that Spike was capable of defending herself against unwanted affections.

"When?" Val grunted.

"After the restaurant closes for the night," Spike replied. "He's taking a shipment of frozen food to the city, and he says there's room for both of us in his truck!"

It always happened like this. Just when Val was ready to give up on Spike completely, she'd pull something useful out of her sleeve--or strap (Spike's shirt didn't have sleeves). She just couldn't bring herself to hate the girl--_but I'm jealous,_ thought Val. _Why does she get to have all the fun?_

*

"I'm surprised Val isn't here yet," Vash said to Marlene.

"Val the Mini-Stampede?" 

"I would have liked for you to meet her, Marlene. She's about the same age as you, I think you'd hit it off. I hoped she could come to dinner with us."

"I guess it's just as well--we already picked up an extra diner for tonight," Marlene said. "Brian picked up a girl in the library this morning. He claims that she's an expert on Earth and the second landing, but I'll believe that when I see it." Marlene rolled her eyes. "What is taking that boy so long?"

She found out when Brian descended the hotel staircase to the lobby where Vash and Marlene were waiting. Brian had always looked somewhat rumpled at best, even when they were working at home. When they went on the road, the little bit of grooming he bothered with went out the window, to the point that Marlene sometimes became embarrassed just for his sake.

Not tonight. Somehow he seemed to have ironed out both the wrinkles in his shirt and pants and the curls of his hair. He was clean-shaven for the first time in a week and smelled of cologne and hairspray.

__

Wow. When he works at it, the boy's not half-bad, Marlene thought in surprise. "Who are you trying to impress?" she asked him aloud.

"I was just trying to dress appropriately," Brian replied, on the defensive. He looked up at Vash. "Wow...um, I mean...um..."

"Vash, I'd like you to meet my partner, Brian Darrow. Brian, this is Vash."

Bryan shook the older man's hand, staring at him in awe. Vash also looked polished for the night out; his hair was combed back into a small ponytail at the back of his neck, and he wore a dress shirt and tie. 

Marlene was almost the same height as he was, and her heels didn't seem to be very high. She was tall and broad-shouldered, as her great-great-aunt had been, but she carried herself with a great deal of grace for her size.

"Where's your date?" she asked Brian.

"Oh, we're meeting her there," he replied. "Um...what do we tell her about..." He looked up at Vash, who seemed to tower over him. Brian was the shortest of the bunch.

"Vash is just a name," the older man replied. "I'm not trying to hide from anyone."

"Except for the bars where you're running up huge tabs?" Marlene replied.

"He-ey! Just what are you insinuating?"

*

Sandhya waited in front of the restaurant, watching the sunset through tinted glasses. Her black jacket was unbuttoned, and she wore an embroidered, Chinese-style yellow shirt beneath it.

"You weren't waiting too long, were you?" Brian asked her, jogging ahead of his companions.

"I just got here," Sandhya replied, as Marlene and Vash caught up.

"Let me introduce everyone," Brian said. "Sandhya, this is my partner from Bernadelli, Marlene Thompson, and...her friend, Vash. Marlene, Vash, this is Sandhya, um..."

"Sandhya Nawar," she finished for him, and shook hands with Marlene. "It's a pleasure to meet--you--" Her voice went a bit odd as she shook hands with Vash. His eyes searched hers, but he said nothing.

"I hope you have a reservation," Sandhya said, looking over to Brian. "It's rather busy."

"Of course I do!" he replied. "Darrow, party of four," he told the host, with some pride at the reservation being made in his name. Marlene rolled her eyes.

"I like your shirt," she said to Sandhya, as the black-haired woman took off her coat.

"Thank you," she replied. Brian pulled out a chair for her, and Sandhya shrugged and sat down on it. Marlene pulled out her own chair.

"Brian tells me you're quite the expert on Earth," she continued, hoping to strike up a conversation.

"I don't think anyone can consider him or herself an expert on Earth," Sandhya replied. She spoke mechanically, disconnected from her words. "But I have tried to find out all I could about the planet upon which I was born." Now she was looking at Vash again, and he couldn't quite hide his surprise. Sandhya looked down at her menu. "I've never tried wine," she said. "Is it good?"

"Really? You've never had any kind of wine?" Brian said.

"I never had the money to spend on stuff like that."

"I'll buy you some, then," Brian said. Marlene rolled her eyes.

"You don't have the money to spend on that, either," she said.

"It's a business dinner, remember? It all goes down in company expenses." Brian grinned.

"You could at least act like it's a business dinner, then," Marlene groaned. "So...Sandhya. What do you think about the explosion at Dr. Fulton's laboratory? I assume you've heard all about it--everyone in the area knows."

"Well, obviously it's more than just an accident, or he wouldn't be here, right?" Sandhya replied, motioning towards Vash.

"Oh, I was just passing through," Vash said.

"According to what I've heard, you have a special sense when it comes to finding trouble," Sandhya said. "And you've found it in June City. Do you know about the sort of research Dr. Fulton was working on?"

"The reports were all very vague," Marlene said. "But I didn't think it was important."

"I don't know much about his current projects, but I know what he did when he still lived on Earth," Sandhya said. "He worked with weapons--weapons that looked and acted just like human beings, but had more destructive energy than an atomic bomb."

"A what?"

At that time, a waitress came to take their orders. Brian tried to order the most expensive wine on the menu, but Marlene interrupted him and made a more economical choice.

"What Fulton really wanted was attention--fame," Sandhya said. "The world feared him, but that wasn't enough for him. He created an army of weapons, and then he destroyed them, to 'save the world.' This wasn't until after they had created enough chaos than another generation was ready to board ships and follow Project Seeds to a new world.

"My guess is that this Twilight is another one of his weapons, a ploy to get fame in this world. He wants to create another Vash the Stampede."

"You have made a study of it," Marlene said. "And here I was, thinking Brian just needed an excuse to talk to a pretty girl."

"Would you cut that out?" Brian said. Drinks arrived, and Sandhya took a tentative sip of the wine. She made a face.

"It's something of an acquired taste," Vash told her.

"It's not bad, it's just...I don't know. At least now I can say I've tried it." She took another sip. "Um. That's about all I know about him."

"Thank you," Marlene said. "I will--"

"So does that mean that he's probably behind the ship that crashed twenty-five years ago?" Brian interrupted.

"A lot...can go wrong, on a ship," Sandhya said queasily. "He'd like us all to think his Twilight did it, but accidents happen."

"So is there actually a Twilight out there?" Vash asked her.

"Maybe, maybe not. I'll believe it when I see it. I wouldn't have believed in the Humanoid Typhoon, if I hadn't seen him face to face, however...maybe the Twilight story's not so farfetched after all."

"You don't have to say it so loudly," Vash said, but no one else seemed to have heard. Their dinners arrived, and they set about eating them.


	5. A Peaceful Life

**Chapter 5: A Peaceful Life**   


A blond-haired child pulled up fistfuls of grass and flung them away, wailing. She was alone, all alone…mom and dad were gone forever, and she didn't know why. She didn't want to see anyone—or, more accurately, the people she wanted to see she could never see again. 

Strong hands grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her off the ground. "What do you think you're doing?" 

Val kicked and screamed. "Put me down! Put me down, Uncle Knives!" 

"You know you're not allowed in here, filthy little brat," Knives said. 

"I don't care!" Val shrieked back at him. "Put me down!" 

"Listen to me, little brat," Knives said, still holding her in the air. "Do you know how hard it is to even get grass to grow on this planet? That grass had to struggle just to survive. And now you've killed it, for no reason. It's dead." 

"I wish you were dead!" Val yelled, kicking at him. It seemed to have no effect. 

"Well, I wish your whole goddamn race was dead, but we can't always get what we want, can we?" Knives said. "All your crying's not going to bring your parents back. Everyone dies, you know that? You're mortal, so that means that one day, you're going to die, too." Knives dropped her, and Val fell to the ground, a crying heap. "Go away," he said. "I don't ever want to see you again." 

Wailing, Val ran. It took Vash the better part of an hour to get her calmed down again. 

* 

"She's just a child, Knives. An innocent child." 

"It's not my fault her parents were killed. Besides, I didn't hurt her." 

"What does it take to make you understand?" 

"What are you going to do?" Knives retorted. "Ground me? Take away my allowance?" 

Vash's fist connected with his brother's face. "Why," he began, struggling to control his anger. Knives wiped his bruising cheek, lip quivering in pain. 

"What else are you going to take from me?" he said. "What's left for you to take?" 

"You have no right to speak about having things taken away from you," Vash replied. "You've taken away too many lives yourself." 

"A hundred years ago," Knives said. "They'd all be dead by now, anyway. Even you couldn't save them from that." 

*** 

Sandhya wasn't sure how to conduct herself in a group like this. After dinner, they'd convinced her to come along with them to a bar. She felt sick to her stomach—the disgusting liquid hadn't gotten any better, and she felt like it was going to come back up. But she had to smile and be polite. That was what people did. 

Vash and Brian exchanged stories and noisy laughter. Marlene seemed to have a silly streak that came out when she drank, and kept laughing loudly. It hurt Sandhya's ears to listen to them. What was worse was the feeling she should be enjoying it, but was simply too sick to do so. 

"I...feel ill," she said, and hurried outside, leaving Vash laughing as Marlene slapped Brian repeatedly, calling him an idiot. 

Sandhya heaved, spilling her expensive Chinese meal on the ground. The smell made her dizzy—dizzier, really. Embarrassed by the mess she'd made and the difficulty of walking, she leaned back against the wall. _What the hell am I doing? Why isn't my mind... working?_

"Nobody warned you?" 

The dark-haired woman turned to see Vash, his blond hair shining under a streetlight. She just looked at him, not realizing how pathetic she appeared. 

"Are you okay?" he asked, walking towards her. 

"I feel awful," she said, then cut herself off. 

"I wasn't exactly expecting to run into someone like you," Vash said. Sandhya frowned at him. "I mean, girls so beautiful are rare! You're really stunning." 

Sandhya laughed. "You're a horrible liar. I see right through you." 

"I did notice that," Vash said. "Why are you here?" 

"Here? Because I got on a ship thirty-some years ago?" Sandhya hiccuped, it tasted disgusting. "Why am I here?" She laughed. 

"Eh...maybe I should walk you home," Vash said. 

"I need to get out of here," Sandhya replied. "I don't want to be here." She knew that. Other things were fuzzy, but that she knew. 

"I can help you," Vash said. 

"May-be," Sandhya replied. "How much do you know?" 

"I know that you're the same as me." _A plant._

"A plant?" Sandhya said. "Am I green, do I have leaves?" 

"Never mind," Vash said. "I don't even know the word for what I am." 

"What do you think you are?" Sandhya replied. "Man, or god? Neither? Somewhere in between? Angel, demon? Names are bestowed, words without meaning, and in the end, no one really knows what they are." It made sense to her as she said it, and she felt a silly pride in her words. "Who am I? I am Sandhya. Of the race of Sava, Sandhya." 

"You're really gone, aren't you," Vash sighed. "Where are you staying? It'd be better to talk when you're sober." 

"I don't have a place," Sandhya replied. "Too dangerous to stay here. I've gotta go on." She tripped. "Oops! See, dangerous." 

Vash sighed. "In this state, I think it's dangerous for you to go anywhere. I'll carry you, and you can stay in my hotel tonight…tomorrow we can talk, okay?" 

"I don't want to stay," Sandhya said. "I want to go." 

"It'll be all right," Vash told her. "You'll be safe with me, I swear." 

"He wants you, too," Sandhya said. "Just…lemme…ulgh…" Vash hopped away as Sandhya retched, squatting on the ground and vomiting into the grass. Shaking, even after she was done throwing up she stayed on the ground. 

"You all right?" 

"I'm scared," she whispered. "I'm so, so scared…" 

* 

The man who'd offered Spike a ride said "Room for both of them," but it turned out to mean "room for one person to share the cab of the truck with the driver, and room for one person to squeeze into the back with the freezers." Val sat cramped up in the corner, her arms clutching her large cross tightly to her body. The freezers with which she shared her space looked large enough to hold people; Val desperately hoped that their contents were not human. 

The night wind chilled her through her coat. A bumpy road, combined with less-than-expert driving, ensured that she would not be getting any rest that night. 

They finally arrived in June five hours later. Val was sore and grouchy from her uncomfortable trip, but Spike was no less chipper than usual. 

"We're here! Aren't you happy, Val?" 

"Thrilled," Val replied. "Where did he learn to drive, anyway?" 

"I don't know. It sure made things exciting, though, didn't it?" 

Val would have smacked her, but she didn't have the energy. Instead she rechecked the sign at the motel where their ride had dropped them off. _Green Hill Inn,_ she read. _He better still be here._ She staggered into the lobby, Spike bouncing ahead of her. She rang the bell to wake the sleeping desk attendant. 

"We'd like a room—" Spike began, but Val put a hand over her mouth. 

"Excuse me," she said, "do you have a Mr. Stryfe staying here?" 

The receptionist checked his register. "Yes, yes we do," he said. 

"Thank _God_," Val sighed. "Give us a room. Two beds. Charge it to him—he's my uncle." 

It took the man behind the desk forever to find a key and give Val and Spike directions to their room. When they got there, Val didn't bother to undress—she just kicked off her shoes and crawled into bed. 

"G'night," Spike said, and Val pulled her pillow over her head. 

* 

"Praying to the porcelain god?" 

"Would you let me die in peace, please?" The woman's face was completely hidden by her hair as she bent over the toilet, dry heaving. 

Vash sighed. "Really...nobody warned you." 

"Will it stop?" Sandhya asked, still staring into the toilet bowl. 

"Eventually. To tell the truth, I think we take it harder than humans." 

"Damn." Sandhya took a plastic cup from the bathroom counter, filled it with water, and rinsed out her mouth. She went back slowly into the hotel room proper. "Ugh, did you have to open up the drapes?" She stretched out her arm towards the source of the light, shading her eyes. "Damn you, sun…why did you have to shine so bright?" 

Vash shrugged, and Sandhya went to shut the curtains. "So, um…you're…" 

"Wait a second," the woman said. "I don't…remember…everything. You better not have—" 

"I swear, I didn't touch you!" Vash replied. "I just brought you here because you weren't in any shape to go anywhere on your own. What do you remember?" 

Sandhya thought about it, massaging her aching forehead. "I remember…being scared." She walked around the room, more and more agitated. "I've got to get out of here." 

"What's going on?" Vash asked. 

"To tell the truth, I wanted to find you," Sandhya said. "I heard all about you, even when he had me…Dr. Fulton wanted to take you, to test you like he tested me." 

"To test me…so he knows that I'm…" 

"Of the race of Sava," Sandhya completed for him. "You've been around for so long, you could only be one of them…I wasn't sure he was right until I saw you. But, you look so much like Sava herself…" 

"Sava?" 

Sandhya frowned. "You don't know about Sava?" 

"No. Who—or what—is Sava?" 

"Oh, man…you came with the first ships, and you don't know about Sava?" Sandhya groaned. "It's a long story…we don't have time. Right now— 

"In a way, Fulton is right. The Twilight is just a name he made up, though…he wanted to make me sound more threatening. I had to get away from him." 

"So you're responsible for what happened?" It did make more sense in Vash's head, now. This woman—this plant, somehow free like he and his brother— 

"I didn't mean to hurt anyone," Sandhya said. "I just want to start over. I don't know where to go…I don't know anything. I just can't stay here." 

"But you know more than I do," Vash protested. "You know what I—what we are—" 

"I need to go," Sandhya replied. "If we meet again, then we can talk…but don't keep me here." 

"There's somewhere you can go," Vash said. 

* 

When Val awoke, her roommate was gone. She didn't know what time it was and didn't care--she was still sore and wanted to stay in bed. The door creaked open and Val threw a pillow at the crack. "Leave me alone, Spike!" 

A tall, pillow-faced figure entered. He spit out the pillow and scratched the back of his head. 

"I just wanted to have a word with Val the Stampede," he said. "Should I make an appointment and come back?" 

"Uncle Vash..." Val sighed. "Don't call me that, it's silly." 

"Who's this 'Spike'?" 

"The bane of my existence," Val replied. Vash nodded knowingly. "No, not like that! Actually…well, you'll find out soon enough." 

"What took you so long, kid?" Her great-great-grandfather grinned at her, like he couldn't believe she wasn't still six years old. Val rolled her eyes. 

"I don't want to talk about it," she said. "Why don't you fill me in on what's going on here, instead?" 


	6. Full ofMercy

****

Chapter 6: Full of ...Mercy

"You sent her home?" Val said after Vash finished relating what had occurred with Marlene, Brian, and Sandhya. "Do you think that was a good idea?"

"I thought it was somewhere she'd be safe," Vash said.

"Yeah, but don't forget that your brother is there. You can keep him in check, but suppose he talks this 'Sandy' person over to his side. Then you've got two super-powered enemies wreaking havoc on the world."

"I understand, but I don't really think that's going to happen," Vash said.

"Oh? Why not?"

"I just don't feel like she's that sort of person."

"And the safety of the world is depending on this feeling of yours?" Val groaned. "Great. I only just got here, and now there's trouble at home, too?"

"Don't worry about it, kid," Vash said. "So, tell me about this Spike of yours."

"Uncle Vash, it's not that sort of thing," Val said.

"I understand, you don't want me meddling," Vash sighed. "You're all grown up now, and you don't want Uncle Vash hovering around you all the time. Look at you—you really have grown up."

Val began brushing her hair. "So what about these insurance people? They nice? Trustworthy?"

"I think so," Vash said. "Could be helpful in unraveling some information. They're meeting with the doctor again today, they're going to try to bring back some clues. I doubt if he's working alone."

"If you can trust Sandy, that is," Val said. "If she's supposedly the Twilight, that means she's responsible for the flagship crash twenty-five years ago—not just this little explosion."

Vash sighed. "We can't really know, can we?" he said. "It's not like it used to be. Without any sort of proof, we can't nail Fulton. Sandhya's our only link."

"And you sent her, someone who has already carried out acts of mass destruction, to hang out with Uncle Crazy back home."

"As soon as we're done here, we'll head back. It takes time to get there—she can't be that far ahead of us."

"Then we'd better finish up here soon. I need to shower, I'll catch up with you later." Val closed herself into the bathroom, and Vash turned to leave. He headed down the hotel steps as someone was running up them. Vash braced himself as she crashed into him.

"Sorry!" The dark-haired girl grinned at him and ran on ahead. He watched her go, somehow managing to run in high heels without stumbling.

__

Well, she was cute, he thought, heading back to the lobby. _I wonder if she knows you can see up her skirt when she runs like that._

*

"Val!" Spike burst into the room, looking around. "Val, where are you?" She began overturning pillows. "Val, you haven't disappeared too, have you? Val!" She pounded on the bathroom door. "Are you in there?"

"Yes, I am!" Val called over the shower. "What's your problem, Spike?"

"Some guy just disappeared!" Spike said. "It's really freaky!"

"Can it wait until I'm done showering?"

Spike sat down on her bed. "I guess," she said. Bored, she fidgeted, and started braiding the tassels on the bedspread. It was a cramped little room, with barely enough space to walk between the two beds. At least it was cooler than it was outside. Spike had spent nights in some baking hot rooms--back when she was with the cheapest boyfriend ever, who couldn't pay the extra cash for air conditioning. _God, what a cheap-ass bastard!_

This gave her something to ponder. How could someone's ass be cheap? She was still trying to figure this out when Val emerged from the bathroom.

"What are you ranting over?" Val asked.

"Huh? Oh. Zachary Fulton disappeared," Spike said. "He was, like, some famous scientist whose lab just blew up in an accident."

"You said his name was _Fulton?_" Val said. "What happened to him?"

"Nobody knows," Spike replied. "But none of his family or anybody knows where he went. I guess all his stuff is still at his house, but he's vanished."

"That Sandy person," Val said.

"Huh?"

"Someone my uncle told me about. I've got to talk to him. He's got some real explaining to do now."

*

"Fulton's gone," Marlene said, shoving a newspaper into her partner's face.

"What?" Brian read the headline. "He disappeared?"

"You can read. Good boy." Marlene patted his head. "I'll sum it up for you. No one's seen him since a little after we met with him. Yet everything at his house was in place, no sign of a struggle, he's just gone."

"Oh, no." Brian sat down and let his head fall into his hands. "What do we do if the client...disappears?"

"We pack up and go home, that's what," Marlene said. "This is in the police's hands, now."

"Aren't you curious about what happened?" Brian said. "First his place blew up, and now he's vanished! Don't you want to know what's going on?"

"I'm sure we can read all about it in the newspapers," Marlene said. "This isn't our job. We deal with insurance cases, not missing persons."

Brian looked at the ground. "Speaking of missing persons..."

"Oh, that's right. Your girlfriend went home with Vash last night, didn't she?"

"Shut up." Brian sat down on the floor to pout.

"Face it, it wasn't meant to be."

"Dammit, what makes women want a man like that, anyway?" Brian said. "I never should have joined this business. I should've become a legendary gunman!"

Marlene rolled her eyes. "Sure, I know _I've_ always wanted a man on the run."

"I'm allowed to be upset, I just got dumped."

"She went out to dinner with us," Marlene replied. "It was mostly a business thing. You can hardly even call it a date."

"Still, I really liked her, and she ditched me."

"Brian, you only met her yesterday."

"Stop it, all right? Marlene, you're so cold."

"Sorry. I was trying to help..."

"You're not helping. You don't understand."

"Sorry." Marlene looked back to her work. She had several messages to write explaining the evens in June City. Brian continued to sit on the floor with his arms wrapped around his knees, eyes studying the carpet. To Marlene he looked pathetic; there was no reason for him to be so sad.

"Marlene?" Brian said out of nowhere.

"What, Brian?"

"If neither of us is married by the time we're forty, will you marry me?"

"By the time you're forty or by the time I'm forty?" Marlene answered automatically, without considering the question.

"When I'm forty," Brian said. "You're going to turn forty too soon."

Marlene breathed out through her teeth. "Whatever. Yeah, if I'm not married by then, I'll marry you. I've already got to spend the rest of my working life with you, why not my home life as well?"

*

There was a small, dark room in an uncertain location. It smelled like mildew, and the aging man in the room coughed at the stale air. The woman who stood beside him didn't seem to notice it. Her features were hard to make out, other than that she was an average-sized woman with short hair. "I'm not happy about this at all," Dr. Fulton said. "I'm too old to be kept in a place like this."

"You're in no position to complain, being the one who lost it," the woman replied. "You're lucky that this is the worst you must endure."

The scientist struggled against the ropes binding him to his chair. "It's not my fault! Didn't you see what she did to my facility? You should be worried about catching her, not punishing me!" 

"The plant will be easy to find. Our detectors will bring it back shortly."

"You don't understand her like I do, Galen. She's not ready to face the real world. And if you damage her in retrieval, she could be--"

"I think you've already proven your incapability to handle it," the woman said. "You had your chance to carry out your experiments. It's past time that it returned to the hands of the agency."

"She has feelings," Dr. Fulton began.

"Oh, the poor baby," replied Galen. "Is your guilt making you sentimental, or is it old age? Your little darling is a trained weapon that belongs to the agency, Fulton."

"I just want another chance, Galen."

"We'll see about that after we find her."

*

"What makes you think anyone here will know about it?" Val asked. She followed Spike into a tavern decorated in a rustic theme. _Cowboy Saloon,_ thought Val. _Give me a break. This place is so cheesy I can taste it._ Cowboy hats and lassos hung from the wall, but looked sad and unkempt; the bartender himself wore a satin shirt and looked like quite the sophisticated city boy, someone who'd never been on the open range in his life.

"Don't you know anything? Bars are the best place to go for information," Spike replied.

"From a bunch of drunks and losers?"

"Well, they haven't got anything better to do than gossip," Spike said. "And hey, if we don't find out anything tonight, at least we can have some fun!"

Val shook her head and the two women sat down at a table, Val's cross leaning against her chair. She sipped at a glass of water, while Spike ordered a cocktail. _It's too early for alcohol,_ thought Val. She seemed to be the only one who thought so, though.

"Hey, ladiesh..." A rather drunk, middle-aged man hovered over Spike and Val. "Lend me two double dollersh and I'll buy yehs a dreenk."

"Go away," Spike replied, rolling her eyes.

"Aw, come on," the drunk continued, not so easily dissuaded. "You gotz a problem wih me?"

Val shifted her cross casually. "Don't you have a family to get home to?"

As if on cue, a woman grabbed the man by the collar and began dragging him away. "I don't believe you, George," she scolded him. "I've been looking all over town..."

"Men," Spike groaned. "They're all the same."

"Pathetic, isn't it?" Val replied. Spike almost dropped her drink, staring at Val with her eyes wide in shock. "What?"

"You...you just agreed with me!" Spike sputtered. "Are...are you feeling okay?" She touched Val's forehead. "You don't seem feverish..."

Val pushed Spike back down into her seat. "Cut it out," she said.

"Hey, we actually do have something in common!" Spike said gleefully.

"Whatever," Val sniffed. "I'm not going to argue with you about the piggishness of the opposite sex."

"Well, they're not all bad," Spike giggled. Val rolled her eyes.

"But they're not worth the effort. No matter how much they might try to deny it, none of them like the idea of me traveling by myself fighting crime."

"I so know what you mean! Oh my god, my last boyfriend was so possessive," Spike replied. "God, if I so much as talked to another guy, he started getting all short and huffy and stuff. He was such a jerk!" She laughed again and Val winced. Did the girl have to laugh so loud?

Val picked the peel off an orange with her fingernails, arranging the pieces on the table in front of her. Spike took her silence as an invitation to keep talking.

"And there was this one time, with my boyfriend two before that, when we decided we were going to be a team and stuff. And then, I get shot one time and he's all, 'you've got to stop this!' I mean, it wasn't even serious, it was just my thigh. I had to leave him as soon as I recovered."

Val looked over Spike's shoulder. "Homina," she said.

"Huh?" Spike turned. A young man had just entered. His dark hair was wind-messy, his nose aquiline. "Oh, he's nice, isn't he," she commented. "Go talk to him."

"No, Spike..."

"Come on!" Spike insisted.

"No! Who's going to want to talk to a freak who carries around a giant cross?"

"That is an awesome cross," another voice put in.

"My friend thinks you're cute," Spike replied cheerfully, and Val almost choked on her orange.

The guy just laughed. "Do you mind if I join you?"

Val was too busy coughing to reply, but Spike just grinned. "Go ahead!"

"My name's Nick," he said, flopping into a chair. He had a style that was suave and yet completely without grace. Val continued playing with the remains of her orange peel.

"My name's Spike, and she's Val the Stampede," Spike explained.

"A pleasure to meet the two of you." Val looked up and met his eyes for a moment, then looked down again, nervously. _Why do I feel like such a total idiot?!_

"That's really amazing. Quite possibly the coolest thing I've ever seen." Nick touched the cloth that wrapped around Val's cross, rubbing it between his fingers, and then running his hand down one of the straps. Val slapped his hand automatically.

"Stop it," she said.

"What?" Nick asked innocently, pulling his hand away.

"You're fondling it."

"Sorry, I didn't mean it as an intrusion, more of a friendly caress."

"You just met. It's too soon for friendly caresses," she admonished him. "Besides, the last time someone else touched the cross, she knocked it over." Val gave Spike a dark look.

"I'll be careful, I promise. I couldn't bear to hurt a beauty like that."

Val stared at him. "It's heavier than it looks."

"Whoa, whatcha got in there?"

"Mercy," Val replied automatically. 

Nick got an odd look on his face for a moment. "Of course-- of course it's full of mercy."

Val shook. "What...?"


End file.
